Here are just some of the things you’ll get if you bid on this package:

– Meeting Joe Torre and taking part in his pregame media session

– Spending about an hour in the clubhouse during pregame, where we interact with numerous players each day, including possibly dealing with potential Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Manny Ramirez or Jeff Kent

– I can’t make any 100 percent guarantees, but I’m going to quietly mention that just about every day of my job requires me to interact with all of the Dodger broadcasters, including Vin Scully, Jaime Jarrin, Rick Monday, Charley Steiner, Fernando Valenzuela, Pepe Yniguez and Steve Lyons.

– Your name in the daily notes that are distributed to the media for a one-of-a-kind souvenir

And the latest…

After the game, my job includes opening the clubhouse to the media but there’s a 10-minute cooling off period where really the only people allowed in that area are club employees and the actual team. So, if we win, it’s a celebration that no fans ever get to see. If we lose, it tends to be a much more quiet atmosphere and while I can’t promise a win, I can promise that you won’t forget the experience.

I’m going on the assumption that all of you are just waiting until the very end to start bidding, otherwise I just can’t imagine an opportunity like this going for so little money. And remember, it’s ALL GOING TO HELP FIND A CURE FOR CANCER.

eric- thank you for your kind words. You are always so nice to me 🙂 how’va been latley?
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Josh- I so wish I could pay for that package. It sounds incredible and a total once in a lifetime chance.
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Lets win a baseball game boys!!! Come on!

I would love to be able to bid on the THINKCURE package…man that is a dream come true. Hey I can be like one of the few girls in there celebrating….but Can’t do it….sad!

Come on DODGER’S we have a great line-up…MARTIN YEAH BABY YOU ARE COMING BACK, well in batting. I will forgive you for yesterday mistakes on 3rd. LOWE, please….don’t allow HR on any DBLs. POWER HITTERS; KEMP, ETHIER, MANNY, MARTIN & NOMAR….PLEASE imagine your worst Enemy standing on the otherside of the walls and AIM TO HIT THEM. LET’S WIN TONIGHT….GOOD LUCK BOYS!

Ward Dear… The sheriff must really be out of town today – FABULOUS SONG!!!!!!!!
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Good Afternoon Amy ~ glad to see you back today. Just to let you know my favorite picture for the week is Matt and Andre hugging after Andre’s walk off on Sunday. It’s up in the classroom.
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Hey trublue!!!
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June Darlin’, Junie, dnelly ~ ethieraholics!!!

Good afternoon all. What a disappointing loss for Team USA Womens Softball in Beijing! That pitcher from Japan pitched like 28 innings in 2 days, and racked up more than 300 pitches. She should be checked for bionics! USA had plenty of chances, and made some costly errors that lost them the game. WOW! Deja vu from last nights Dodger game!

Hats off to the Womens Soccer team, and May-Treanor/Walsh in Beach Volleyball for bringing home the gold. BRAVO!!!

Nice to see Kent out of the lineup after losing 2 straight and falling 2 back of the Snakes….Hey, Jeffy, how about getting your lazy butt up early today, take an advil and get your butt out to second base and the 3 hole where you’ve been great? I mean, this is your last year, right?? Berroa at 2B. You think Torre would learn something after this righty-lefty BS with Loney and Ethier. Man, treating Francis like he’s Carlton or Koufax is a joke. Where’s the confidence in our top guys? I don’t care if Pierre is 20 for 20 against Francis, I don’t want his sorry defense and bad attitude in CF!!!!

Thanks guys and mom! I’ll try and think of something positive to write, but in the meantime…I know I’ve been out for a few days, but I’m sure most of you noticed the little guy slowly joining the celebration following Ethier’s big walk-off the other day?

I see do they really need 3 pitchers? Couldn’t they used her somewhere else other position. Wohooooo the sexy Finch is on the main yahoo page. I remember Cat/Finch shut them down on 1 hit. I can’t believe you can win 2 games against JPN but lost the final against them and still get a silver. I think the final should’ve been best of 3 only if JPN win the 2nd games.

ibirken i wouldn’t classify their performance as a failure. Far from it. It just seemed team USA went in complacent against them after taking the first games from them, and being unbeaten for so long. They were on the top of the heap for quite a while. For the first time in the tournament, they were challenged. They haven’t seen that in a looong time.

Athlete ProfileUeno threw the first perfect game in Olympic history at the 2004 Athens Games, beating China 2-0 in the preliminary round.
She went 3-2 with a 0.46 ERA overall in Athens, striking out 31 and allowing just nine hits and one walk over 30 2-3 innings to lead Japan to the bronze medal.
Has a fastball that’s been measured at over 70 mph from 45 feet away and also throws a changeup in the low 50s.
Ueno has pitched particularly well against the United States, winner of every gold medal since softball became an Olympic sport in 1996.
At the 2006 World Championships, she handed the U.S. its only loss in the playoffs of the event, allowing no runs in a 3-1 win.
Ueno also beat the Americans 3-1 in the gold medal game at the 2005 World Cup.
Is a two-time MVP of the Japanese pro league.
Born July 22, 1982.

The biggest surprise for me with these Olympics is how Team USA’s Boxing, and Wresting teams did. They usually haul away more medals in these competitions. Looks like the rest of the world is catching up.

vl4, I don’t think it is a failure either. I was commenting on the perception in general that I see with regard to comments made by some competitors and coaches that anything less than a gold medal is unacceptable. Perhaps many of those comments are made in moments of disappointment.

scurtis From what I read earlier, he wasn’t even diagnosed until a few days ago. He went quick. Strange. I’m a HUGE Silver & Black fan. I still believe Art Shell & Gene Upshaw are two of the greatest linemen tandems ever with all the run blocking, & the time they gave the QB’s to throw. It’s truly a very sad day for the Raider Nation. RIP

Upshaw’s dead?!!!! wow. As a Silver and Black fan for 20 years, I never got to see Upshaw and Shell in their heyday (or before they retired), but my dad and uncles told me all about those two in the glory days. A sad day for the Silver and Black.

Suspicious? Maybe not if he had cancer. NFL union politics are cutthroat, but I don’t think they’d go that far. Now Ken Caminit found dead in a crackhouse long after he had rehabbed and just after he talked to the media about steroid use in the MLB, now THAT’S suspicous.

Aug 21 The Los Angeles Times’ T.J. Simers reports Los Angeles Dodgers OF Manny Ramirez says he will donate $1,000 to Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA for every homer, $300 for every RBI, $100 for every single. He has the Dodgers take the donations directly out of his pay – the first check already hitting the hospital.

To be fair to Juan, I know he does some charity work for the kids, I read about it in the program.

If he really wants to make a lot of money for the children, he could autograph a pair of game-used stirrups and auction them off on the UniWatch blog (http://www.uniwatchblog.com). The site owner, Paul Lukas, LOVES stirrups, perhaps to a somewhat unhealthy level, and many readers share the love. I like how stirrups look, I just wouldn’t do any laundry diving in the locker room or kickdowns to the equipment managers to get my hands on them.

Maybe something to think about, Josh. Especially towards the Mattel Children’s Hospital, Make a Wish, ThinkCure! or one of the many charitable foundations out there. Uniwatch readers have been known to plunk down a few hundred on game-used Minor League jerseys from the ’40s and ’50s.

The Snakes will play the Dodgers six more times this season, with the final three-game set going down in L.A. Overall, give ‘Zona the edge in schedule. The Dodgers play inferior opponents, but the home-road splits favor Arizona by a mile.

As you can see, the Dodgers play almost two-thirds of their remaining games on the road, and this season they’re just 26-32 away from Chavez Ravine. The mitigating factor, however, is that the rest of the way no contender plays an easier slate of teams than the Dodgers do. In rough terms, it’s like playing the Reds every day from this point forward. Still, that’s a lot of road games …

Nice tater by Loney today. Lest we forget, Loney had nine home runs last September. Looking forward to this September, especially as he will be surrounded by Kemp, Ethier, Kent, Manny, Martin, Nomar, and Blake.

northstate- thank you 🙂
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acardona- I got the email too. I emailed her back, I checked her name on-line, along with her address and phone extension and it all seemed legit. I did call her and left a message and haven’t heard back. so I don’t know what’s going on with her or that article.
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who knows.

Way to bounce back, Kuo and Brox! We need you both at your peak for the pennant drive. Good clutch hitting by Loney, and I always feel confident about getting a quality AB when Andre is in there. Kemp will run a bit hot and cold, but mostly hot. Martin needs a rest, no matter what he tries to tell you, Torre, so try to be a gd manager and get him a couple of days off after the Phillies series. Nomar still sucks, but unfortunately we don’t have any real players at shortstop.

I still can’t stand Colletti, so please fire him, Frank. I don’t want to resort to wishing that he’d get hit by a bus, or lightning, or at the very least pidgeon droppings.

Even though I didn’t get to see the game, I am assuming all went well for the most part. I checked in a few times through game day, and all I knew was that Matt scored off of Andre somehow, and that James hit his 10th home run. Just so you know, anytime there is a day game, Ethierbear is held until the game is over, ethier (either) by me or a student.
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northstateblues ~ did you change to nsblues yourself, or did the system change for you?
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Ethieraholics ~ Just so you know, anytime there is a day game, Ethierbear is held until the game is over, ethier (either) by me or a student.

amyw – yeah it sucked (not the game but what happened to me and my friends) but i did hold up my Ethieraholic sign! lol and i had my Ethier shirt on and as i was leaving people were saying to me “way to get that hit!” and “perfect hit!” like i did it!.. haha good times good times… i wish i could have met you two! maybe some other time 🙂

AMY & ARCADON…yeah she e-mailed me and I did the samething Amy did and checked everything out before responding. Does anybody knows when the review suppose to come out? I asked her but she hasn’t reply back!

I know is just to bad you seen the bad side of me when we played the Nats last month when Perez was starting and me and leefink got into a stupid arguement over something stupid like Loney was taken a day off.

acardona ~ Last year’s class got more into the fact that he was signed than this year’s class so far. The girls come in every day and say “hi” to Ethierbear and read Eric’s song (along with the James Loney song and one of jhall’s songs). They especially like dodgereric’s song because they are mentioned in the song. Yes, dodgereric is becoming a legend in room 5. Last year’s class has known about Andre and the rest of the Dodgers since February, where as this group has only heard about him for four days. A couple more weeks and a few more day games, and then they will have a better understanding of who Andre is and why he and the other Dodgers are all over the classroom.

shad- I know you got mad that day. but we all make mistakes. I’m the first one to tell you that emotions come out here on this board and people’s comments can affect you. That’s why I took a vacation from here. It was a good break 🙂

ACARDONA & AMY: I just hope the lady writes something nice and interesting about Ethier….I should of mentioned the ETHIERAHOLICS CREW. 🙂
DNELLY: Your students are having the best education ever. I wish my daughter was in your class.

The longer answer: nsblues is my default mlb.com name, I guess. If I sign in to chat (once in a great while), message boards (haven’t since this blog started) or here, that’s my name.

For me to read as northstateblues, I have to log into my mlblog account, and change my display name from the default nsblues to the longer-than-10-characters northstateblues, then “save” it. (I put save in quotes because if I close the mlblogs account page or log out, then I’m back to nsblues).

LOL!!! nsblues/Mercury 53/northstateblues ~ northstateblues is a little long, I guess. LOL!! We didn’t do the movie thing last night. I must have dozed off between 11 and 12 because I woke up and all I saw was Eric’s “good night all!!”

Yeah, emotions can run hot on here. I know I’ve said some stuff about players I’ve regretted. Anonymity can be empowering, with the blessing of keeping weirdos from contacting you in real life, and the curse of feeling empowered say things and act ways we might not in real life, without thinking about the consequences.

I just try not to get personal, and try not to let things get to me personally. After all, it’s only a blog, ya know? We’re all Dodgers fans when it comes down to it. As the late great Flip Wilson once said, “We might have come from different places, but we’re all in the same boat now!”

nsblues ~ gotcha!!!! When I first saw diamondeb on here, I thought “Why is my auction name on here?”. It was kind of a coincidence that the day that name appeared, the Think Cure auction had started – hmmmm!!!
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dodgersrule ~ I actually think this class will enjoy it more than last years because I am adding so much more. I am adding more history (as much as I can for 6 year olds), and I am doing a ballpark a week, so it will be baseball all year long. Also, because I am doing the ball parks in alphabetical order by team -guess who’s first? Arizona Diamondbacks, and where are they from? Phoenix,Arizona. To make it fit the geography curriculum, I am including facts about Arizona and Phoenix, and who do we know who lives in Phoenix, none other than Andre Ethier himself. Is that great or what!?!

Thanks Acardona and dodgersrule!! Have a great day!! I have to go pick up my daughter. I will catch up when I get home after I get all situated.
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nsblues ~ I am sure I will talk to you during ITD Night Owl Session – LOL!!

Just got back from the game a little while ago. We really needed to take one before leaving on the road trip, especially after last night’s game that we could have won with a better lineup. Quite a few people called into Dodger Talk after the game to comment on last night’s game and the lineup. Anyway, I was really happy that Andre was in the lineup and he had an rbi single. He got robbed of a second hit on his last at bat. The last few games I’ve been to, he wasn’t in the lineup, so I was glad to see him in there against a lefty. James came through big. Someone mentioned on Dodger Talk that Loney and Ethier were the two lefties against a left hander and they knocked in all the runs, so hopefully Torre won’t be so stuck on packing the lineup with righties next time we face a lefty.

The Philly series is going to be tough. They’re going to be out for blood since we swept them in the last series.

bluecrewgirl ~ I thought about you today when I saw the line up come up this morning. I was very happy you got to see him play. I just got done watching the innings that counted. It’s kind of strange that Torre takes into account Andre and James’ averages against lefties, but doesn’t take into account Sweeney’s average on anybody. Andre 90% of the time has quality ABs even when the result in an out. He is perfect in the 2-hole for that purpose because even if his AB results in an out, he is patient enough to allow Matt (and even JP) to do their thing in stealing bases, therefore moving a runner over. That should count for a great deal too, so you can’t always look at averages when you are talking quality ABs. So, when he sits Andre or James because they don’t do well against lefties, is he really looking to see what kinds of ABs they are having against lefties. However, today didn’t seem to matter, both Andre and James hit the ball well today. So, since you were there, was Andre out at 2nd when he scored in Matt?

Hid dnelly & bluecrewgirl ~ I’m glad you are here this evening. Boy, it’s lonely at ITD when we play a day game.
You are absolutlely right dnelly about Andre and James. If we want to win this division, they have to play everyday.

I was just doing my Dodger trivia challenge, and I was just answering questions about the true blue wrecking crew, and to think in a year (or maybe two) if these young guns stay healthy and remain Dodgers, we could see this all over again. Manny (assuming he’s here), James, Matt, Russell and Andre all have the potential to hit 20-30 homeruns in a season. Even if they averaged 25 between the 5 of them, that’s 125 HRs in a season, and that’s just from these five. I see Matt and Andre getting 20+ before the end of this season.

Dnelly ~ We knew they had the potential to do all that and more. I just hope management feels the same. Actually, I think they do, since they had the chance to get rid of Matt or Andre but didn’t want to.
Where is everyone? I hope the curse didn’t get rid of them. First, their names and now, what? It’s boring with no songs and lively discussion.

It’s really great to see Maddux on the homepage as tomorrow’s pitcher.
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trublue ~ normally during a night game there aren’t too many people on then ethier (either), but then more and more come on towards the end of the game so maybe it’s the same whether there is a game or not. Some could be watching the replay also, like jnv (dodgerdad 14) said he was going to do.

Wally ~ It was great to see the two lefties that sat yesterday because they were lefties against a lefty pitcher do well against a lefty pitcher today eventhough they were lefties.
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Okay, boys and girls, how many times can you fit the base word left into a sentence – apparently alot!! LOL!!!

Good evening ITD boys and girls,
Great win today!!! I was hoping that the Rox wouldn’t sweep the series today; I got my wish!!! DLowe did well today; especially after settling down after the first couple of innings.

Some of you were talking about the WSJ reporter and that article. I got the initial e-mail and I did reply back to her. I haven’t heard anything from her though since then. If I hear something from her, I’ll let everyone know…

I know some of you have been joined it but is it too late to ask if I can join the Ethieraholic gang? I’d love to be part of that!!! 🙂

DNelly, sorry for the delay in responding, I left for yoga after I posted before. It was very close on the play where Andre was called out at 2nd, I would have to see a replay to make form a final opinion. I wish they would show replays of important plays at the stadium, but they don’t.

jhall/57 dodger (ya know, I hate having to remember more than one name!) – I do not know French and never took a French class in school. I recognize some words though: like bonsoir, and the the one that means good night! I just don’t know how to spell it. I recognize it when I see it, but I still don’t know how to spell it! jhall – a little help!!!

And was the explanation for Oberon somewhere in that French conversation???

hi guys…its been a while since ive posted. ive been moving back to santa barbara for school, and helping my brother move out of his place and then i was in vegas the last week. so yeah im really not sure about this team. they confuse me. lets hope madux can give us a boost.

manfromchina ~ I think Maddux will be a great help to the team. He will be a great influence on Billz & Kersh. I also think if our defense tightens up a bit we will be fine. Our hitting has improved a lot and I think we will win the division.

Hi Amy ~ It was a close call on the game this afternoon but we managed to hold on and win. Just what we needed to begin our long road trip. After the 2nd inning, Lowe really settled down and the pen did a fine job.

nelly ~ You’re right; that article does make you want him around as a Dodgers for a long, long, time. BTW, I replied to your e-mail. Thx.

Hey Amy!!! It has been a while. At least I can recognize your new screen name!!! I’ve was on vacation when I think all these name changes started. At least I’m still cpompe1!!! How did you like the WIN event, what was it, last weekend or weekend before last? Did you get to say hi to Matty?

I knew that 🙂 I just wanted to know if you lived close by, or if you connect on this blog alot from different cities/states?
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you both are kind- but I do get different personalities from both of you. In my mind there are distinctions- so it’s good 🙂
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trublue- you are right. It was a close game. I hate day games because most of us are at work. At least the replay is on t.v. right now.
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buenas noches Jhall/57 🙂

yea CP- these names are confusing- that’s why I chose a name that was close so I wasn’t a stranger to you guys. The WIN event was great. I’m not going to share too much about my experience, but what I will say is….. I stood up in front of everyone ( Russell, Matt, Joe, Don, Jamie, Charlie) and into the mic I asked a question to Matt and Russ. All I can say is that I have no idea what I said and I have no idea how they answered. They were staring at me and I have little memory of what happened during the moment. lol 🙂 it was great though 🙂

bluecrew- the Dodogers Women’s Inititive Network (WIN)- is a program to introduce women to sports. I believe Jamie McCourt came up with it. One of the things they do is hold clinics to introduce women to basball. Jeff Kent and Dodgers of the past held a clinic at Dodger stadium and taught us fundamentals of the game. After there was a luncheon with Matt, Russ, Joe, Don and Jamie.
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on the Dodger Webpage, on the very top by the ‘roster’ and schedule’ go to COMMUNITY- then click on WIN.
there i more info there.

jhall ~ enchanted and eric might have fun with that one – good thinking Amy – LOL!!
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The way it stands now, old fogey/westernmost/winflavor/porklinks got the worst of the name changing issue. I would have thought 19882008, but since enchanted is still part of his name for now, he is still enchanted.

(Nine) Doubles in the gaps.
(Ten) Your a future star.
(Eleven) That sweet left handed swing.
(Twelve) You help us win.
(Thirteen) The way you play the game.
(Fourteen) You thrill our hearts.
(Fifteen) You play with grace and heart.
(Sixteen) Your games complete.
Those are sixteen reasons why ITD gals,
(Why ITD gals) Love Dre’.

trublue ~ It’s okay ~ I’m just reading articles about the game, and I am also reading a book eric recommended. I am almost finished with it, and it’s really kind of fun. It’s mostly pictures with some good information and fun facts about the players. I was able to answer a few trivia questions just based on the information I obtained from that book alone.

Terrific Much Needed 3 to 1 Victory By Our Beloved Los Angeles Dodgers over the Colorodo Rockies! Super Heros Tower of Power,James Loney,Andre Ethier,Derek Lowe,Hong-Chih Kuo & The Great Jonathan Broxton definitely called on all their Super Powers to Win This One!All Our Los Angeles Dodgers were Super Heros! As Our All Powerful Almighty Super Great Dodger In The Sky gave us The Likes of The Legendary Super Heros Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale,Willie Davis,Maury Wills,Walt Alston,Steve Garvey, Ron Cey,Davey Lopes,Steve Yeager, and of Course The One and only, Super Hero Tommy Lasorda, which all spell World Series Championship Victory, He From His Sanctuary On High sees the Spelling Of This Super Humble Great Selfless Los Angeles Dodger Team as The True World Series Championship Victors This Gutsy, Sometimes Very Hard, But Always Supernatural Jubilee 50th Anniversary of Our Wonderful Los Angeles Dodgers in Los angeles This Unmatchable Year of 2008 A.D.!

ndeschenes ~ it is always great to hear from you. Yes, it was a much needed victory, especially going into Philly tomorrow. Hopefully Maddux will get his first victory as a returning Dodger tomorrow. That would be fantastic!! Have a fabulous evening and a spectacular tomorrow.

Hello ITD. I put in a bid for the Think Cure auction. Hopefully I can be the lucky winner! I have my fingers crossed. I went to the game today although I really don’t like day games. It’s just too hot. I decided to sit up in the reserve section in the shade with my friend rather than sit in my regular season ticket seat on the field level. Everyone teases me about my bouncing around from seat to seat. I can’t make up my mind where my favorite seat is. Of course, I would love to sit in the dugout section every game! Only one more time there this season. I know I was one Dodger fan who was not happy about Manny joining the club. I was wrong. He seems to have a positive influence. For example, today Andre hit that double that resulted in the RBI (yes, Matt) but was tagged out at second. Andre takes everything so hard. He looked like the earth had fallen in, he looked so crestfallen. It was the last out of the inning so he was headed back to the dugout to get his stuff. But Manny brought his glove and cap out to him. He talked to Andre, I’m sure telling him that he did good. Andre looked much better. That’s what I call comraderie. D-Lowe did great. I really like him. He has a great sense of humor and always speaks to us. Today being no exception. I was lucky to get another autograph on my glove: Ramon Truncoso. Another sweet guy. And I’m glad that Russell was back behind the plate where he belongs. I think he needs a day off, period. I also think that Andre should play everyday. This last week proves that. He had the one off day but so did everyone else. Anyway, our guys are gone…to Philly. I already miss them. They won’t be back until Labor Day. 😦

Ward Dear – when you say nice conversation, are you talking about Oberon and Uranus (LOL!!!) or our nightly Ethieraholics meeting? – LOL!! So, you haven’t drafted yet, I assume. You are just preparing. Are you in charge of this one too? You sound like my brother. I am planning on doing one, but it will be much like baseball – very simple, hopefully 🙂

All of it! From amy’s “57ketchup” name for jhall (which I’m going with for a while, BTW) to the planetary expedition to the foreign languages to the testosterone-depleting Ethieraholics. It’s all good! Even managed to work some Dodger baseball into it!

We don’t draft until the last minute. I’m actually in two leagues. I’m The Commish for one league and I’m partners with my brother-in-law in another.

eric ~ I love that article about Tommy and the Olympics – He really does like the young kids, and what a great perpective of no team rivalry when you are playing in the Olympics – only playing for the USA. It really becomes about the game and not who is wearing what uniform.

I haven’t read The Tempest in a while, heh. I think I’m missing something.

I haven’t done fantasy football for a couple of years, think I’ll do one this year. I used to like NFL.com’s the best, ’cause they had free stattracker, went into the playoffs as the #1 seed and lost the first game.

eric ~ also, earlier this afternoon after the game, I was talking to acardona and dodgersrule, and you have become quite the legend in room 5. Three days in a row (and I am sure this will continue for quite some time), my girls from last year come into my room, give Ethierbear a hug, and the go straight to the baseball wall with your song on it. They don’t know the tune, but they read it every day.
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I figured you were commish 🙂
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The conversations were pretty fun today. It’s amazing what we come up with to talk about when there’s no game on. Amy’s ketchup saying was classic!! However, she’s right, it’s hard not to think of him as jhall, or Wally, in my case. All these name changes are pretty strange to say the least – jnv’s was the one for today – wow!!

There was one year, north, I was in the championship game. Monday Night Football was on and I was 2 points behind my opponent. He was done. I had Barry Sanders going for me. In our league at that time, we got bonus points once a RB went over 100 yards rushing or receiving. Sanders got stopped inside the 10 on a long run and they gave the ball to a fullback who scored. Sanders finished the game with something like 97 yards rushing and 98 yards receiving. No points for me. No championship for me. The worst.

porklinks has got the worst of it, though. LOL!!!!! especially after 19882008 finally became enchantedS again, (still no sunset,but at least enchanted is there). I keep waiting for kpookiemon’s to change again.

Yeah, I really could have used the money at the time. My wife was staying home with Matt (he was just a little shaver). I never accept any tips from the winners, I tell the other guys that I just want to take all their money. 🙂 The one consideration I take is that I don’t pay my fee until the season’s over. If I don’t win anything, I pay when I write the checks to the winners. It kind of hurt that year. Things were tight then.

I think we need to reserve the movie nights for times when we need our spirits picked up, don’t you?

enchanted$unset
enchanted$un$et
magicaldusk? Not quite the same.

Oh yeah. It’s not a whole lot of money, $150/team. But when you have 16 teams in the league, it adds up.

We always get together at a pizza place. It’s perfect for it. TVs, pizza, beer for those who partake. The most fun is giving each other a bunch of crap about who they just picked. “Are you taking him? Really?” “Is he finished with his drug rehab?” “Will they let him play from prison?” Stuff like that. It never seems to get old. I’ve been playing the football fantasy game since ’90.

Me and my brother and cousins wanted to start a fantasy football-type league on Madden, where you draft your fantasy football teams online, and put those players on teams in the video game and play a season or tournament like that. Maybe now that they have online connections, we can make it happen.

Except I don’t have PS3, 360 or Wii yet. Football-wise, it’s just as well since, being a Raiders fan, I”m content with Madden 2002 for Gamecube. And ESPN 2k5 for PS2 wasn’t bad, had Gannon, Rice and Brown, and first person under-the-helmet viewpoint. I loved playing DT (usually Sapp) and sacking the QB.

nsblues~Speaking of Raiders – they and the niners are getting more radio coverage than the gnats right now. The Giants have been pretty much written off for this year other than a little bit in the morning when Kruk and Kuip report in, and for an actual game.

Heheheh, the sooner the better. My uncle, HUGE diehard Raiders fan, always roots for the A’s to miss the playoffs, so they can sod the field for the Raiders.

Wonder where Al’s gonna move them next. One talking head, back when they returned to Oakland, said that Al Davis should just pull up the stakes, and play all the games on the road and just call themselves The Raiders. Can’t say I didn’t like that idea.

June Darlin’, it was not only before online, it was before computers. At least for me. The first two years I did all the stats longhand on college ruled paper with a pencil. I’d cut out the box scores from the LA Times and tape them onto a paper so I could have them ready for disputes. Every team had its score sheet, and there was another with the updated standings and accumulated point totals. I’d take it to work and make copies for everyone every week. All of it went into a notebook that I kept until the next season.

Getting ready for my third season of doing it, I decided to ask my boss if he wanted in. The league was expanding by a team or two every year and I was starting to use a lot of paper! I thought that no one could complain if the boss was in on it and it worked out well. He was a computer guy and when he got the first week’s results, he introduced me to Word and Excel. He said I could use the computers at work as long as I was off the clock. I struggled for a while, but managed to learn a lot about Excel especially. By the end of that season I was reasonably proficient. Before the ’94 season started I got my first computer.

That’s pretty good eric. Just knowing how you keep stats now, I can picture all the paper – LOL!! My parents did a similar fantasy league on paper. That’s how I became a Redskins fan. Back then they drafted defense, along with special teams, and they drafted alot of Redskins players their first year. I was in junior high school (1978-79).

nsblues ~ I rather hear the baseball eventhough it’s the Giants/A’s. I am not a Raiders or 49ers fan. I have to go online to get my Redskins fix – they are never mentioned out here, but they might this year since they are playing the 49ers this year in SF – I really want to go. This doesn’t happen too often so I am hoping for an early Christmas present, unless he wants to pay for an auction item on here – LOL!!!

eric ~ they did it through their bowling league is what I remember most. That, the Redskins and Rams and alot of Chart Paper. I’m sure trublue can clue you in on more. My son is currently getting ready to do one on line, so I am hoping he will guide me through this year. I understand the game of football very well, but it’s the who and when to pick who that are the confusing parts right now.

“Posted by cnova000 03:38 AM, 08/22/2008
oh great, Maddux again. And this time, Moyer won’t be around to match him. Kendrick will be out there to give up 6 runs. Pencil in the loss already. Season is close to done for this team unless a miracle happens, or Cholly gets fired, which Gillick is to dumb to do. Eagles don’t have any WR. How long until first faceoff??????”

Seriously Nels, just get yourself a magazine so you can have names to cross off. I don’t care how much you know, it’s probably 75% luck. I got the first pick the year after Jerry Rice caught 80 TDs (ok, wasn’t it 21 or something like that?) and I picked him #1. He tore his leg up in the first game.

Yes, I did and it does. What’s funny Eric, is as much as I hate the Giants, it’s the same discussions they are having. Why are the vets playing? What’s happening to our bullpen? They want to go young, but the fans don’t have the patience to wait more than this year. I want to call in and say “are you sure your not talking about the Dodgers?” LOL!!!

Okay – I have the magazines, but I haven’t done much research yet. It’s the whole Dodger baseball thing right now – LOL!!! I have actually been paying more attention to college football articles than NFL,but hopefully I will get inspired….

I was a Rams fan from the Roman Gabriel days in the 60s. Then the Black Widow ruined my team and moved them to that hot-house of the NFL, St Louis. I haven’t really had a team since. As you say, my wife is a Chargers fan like I am of the Dodgers. Just being around her, I’m just about a fan myself now. It’s a dead giveaway when I started getting mad at them last year. 🙂 Matt has glommed onto the Broncos for some reason. So twice a year it gets interesting around here.

Broncos – hmmmm!! My husband kind of travels with certain players. He loved David Carr, so he was a Texan fan, and then David Carr went to Carlolina, and he followed them last year, but Carr didn’t play too much. To be honest, I don’t know what he will do this year. When I first met him, he was a 49er fan. One of his friends in college was an equipment manager for the 49ers, with a superbowl ring and everything. He was a 30 year old freshman – a very strange man at the time and probably still is. He stopped being a niner fan when Walsh left.

BTW (totally off topic) – My daughter thinks your son is handsome. I was looking for a song the other day to print out, and the picture of the chevelle came up. She asked who was in the picture, and I told her, and there you go…..

School started here this week too. He’s driving the Chevelle, as per our agreement. He said that he’s heard people talking about the car that he’s never met. He told me last night that getting to drive it is the greatest thing in his life. I told him that a lot of the people I know think that I’m spoiling him. He says that he sees it as incentive to keep doing what he’s doing – keeping up the grades, staying in Scouts, keeping out of trouble. Because he knows those keys go back on the wall in a heartbeat.

Thanks for the compliment though. His real strength is his God-given desire to please others.

OK, I need to get at least 3 1/2 hours of sleep. I leave you with 3 more foreign phrases of Russian, Elvish and Klingon:

Eric ~ I am very sure about that!! All the things you have said about him are all wonderful attributes to have, and she had a boyfriend who had all that as well. He is starting his freshman year at Azuza Pacific playing football as a lineman.

Good Morning ITD Boys and Girls!!!
It’s kind of sad that I am the last one to post last night, and the first one of the first ones to post this morning. It’s all in a day of being June Darlin’ and mom, I suppose. Well, I can’t wait for tonight to see Maddux pitch. Let’s hope all the Dodgers brought their good bats for the weekend.

This name change crap has now turned into a hassle even signing on. It tells me to sign in, then won’t let me 90% of the time. E’s gettin’ upset!!!

Good win yesterday, but the Snakes have seriously turned it up a notch while JoJo seems hellbent on still playing around with spring training line-ups. How is this team going to further itself like that?

As far as Arizona, there pitching is just top notch right now, not that it hasn’t been all year, but even more so now it appears. The key to most teams who play the dbacks is to get to their bullpen, but obviously SD didn’t do a very good job of that this series, I suppose. Then, again, SD is so far out of it, they would love to knock the Dodgers down a peg or two (not that I think things like that happen on purpose, but Peavy blowing at 4 run lead doesn’t happen – lol)

Good morning dnelly & enchantedS ~ I was planning to stay up with you last night but my husband had to watch the Olympics Taekwondo on my computer. Imagine that, booting me off! I still don’t know how you guys stay up until 2:00 am. Don’t worry about the Dbacks, enchanted. Pretty soon they will have to play some difficult teams and they will come down to earth.

Good Morning trublue ~ All we were talking about was fantasy football, kids and such. I was explaining to eric how I became a Redskins fan while watching you guys do fantasy football way back when. The times just flies by, and the next thing you know,it’s 2 am. It doesn’t seem to be bothering me because I am still getting up between 5:30 and 6:00.
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Gotta go to work – I will check in on the other side.

One of the poster named sinydodger read this. You guy should go check the line out that I posted here.

For you Dodger fans that follow our minor leaguers faithfully (BlueTrain that’s you) I read today in USA today that the Dodgers have given the Padres a list of 5 minor leaguers of which he can choose two, as payment for Greg Maddox. Kevin Towers says he is “excited by several of the names on the list”. Yikes! Please tell me Coletti can’t be dumb enough to include the likes of Scott Elbert, Andrew Lambo, Austin Gallagher, etc. Let’s hope it’s not another Santana disaster for a six week rental.

Wish they would show the USA/ARG basketball game on reg TV. Look like ARG lost there best player in Ginoboli and I guess this would be am easy win for USA and they need it after what ARG did to them 4 years ago.

To solve the problem of signing in, I just don’t sign out. It works if you use your own computer but probably not a work computer. I am the $450 bid so I hope there won’ be a surge at the end of the bidding because I really don’t want to bid more than this. It is for charity. And the season is winding down. All I have to worry about is those postseason tickets..:) The acquisition of Greg Maddux seems very positive. Russell seems very upbeat about it. All I can say is that getting Manny and Blake has been a definite shot in the arm. The games are much more exciting. I can’t wait to watch the game today to see how Maddux does. And when Penny comes back, apparently he will be in the bullpen as well as Schmidt as relievers. That should be interesting if it happens. Go Dodgers.

I don’t know if you are out there, Dodgereric, but I was reading your post from last night about the Rams. My husband has also been a Rams fan since Roman Gabriel played. He was really sorry to see Georgia move them from L.A. But, he still likes them no matter what city they they call home.

good morning all. I also am excited for Greg’s return to the mound in Dodger Blue. I really hope his time here with us continues to be valuable and positive 🙂
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Dnell/eric/and the rest- I sadly have no interest in football 😦 so the post season looks bleak for me. I have no sports to look forward to until spring training 😦
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I just wish the game was on west coast time!

Just like most of you I had a bad feeling about the Rox series after the phils and brewers were manhandled. It’s funny how those two great series (phils and brewers) were sandwiched in between two terrible series to lesser opponents. But hey they’re division rivals and we know how that goes at the end of the season….sheesh, at least they took the last one from the Rox.

O.K. if any of you remember me, I debuted on this blog w/ a late nite rant defending JP. I still think he’s a solid player, I love and value speed and feel he can slap balls all he wants, as long as he keeps getting SB’s (I feels SB’s should be factored into SLG% along w/ the CS). His durability is HUGE and can’t be quantified, there aren’t many stats for consistency.

But it is time for Ethier to be the everyday guy, period. JP’s arm is inexcusable. And Ethier’s AB’s have been just amazing, he is coming into his own as a hitter, not to mention his walk off game winners. Make JP our PH/PR, he can do for us what Roberts did for the Sox in ’04. Ethier is just better, start him everyday. We need consistency in our starting line-up heading into the final push, and we need the best defensive alignment. I still like JP and appreciate his ability to make things happen, but he is our 4th best OF’er and not worthy of a platoon compared to Ethier because of his pathetic arm.

signed arayd recovering JP-a-holic (he can still make a difference, hopefully a good one!)

Also, Ethier and Kemp really work well as a 1-2 tandem and seem to feed of each other. I love their energy and what seems to be a great friendship and pure joy for the game. I would hate to be a SP and have to start the game facing those 2 guys back to back. And hate to have to face them coming back around the batting order. Like I say speed distracts a pitcher, but to be fair so does power, even more so, since you face it every pitch you make, and those 2 have POWER.

Oh, and Kent’s a dipsh*t, I’m fed up w/ his attitude, he should not have bad mouthed Vin Scully like he did. That was absurd and an unclassy slap in the face to the classiest man ever to be involved w/ the Dodger’s.

And Joe has no business batting Blake in the 8 hole, it’s outrageous. The guys a career AL’er who has NO experience hitting in front of a pitcher. The only guy to put there is whoever is playing SS that night, that is our most inconsistent position and should be 8, even if it’s Nomar. Batting Blake 8 also nullifies his power w/ all the crap pitching he sees.

JOE, start Ethier everyday! JOE, keep a consistent defensive alignment out there! JOE, stop hitting Blake in the 8 hole! NED, get a good PH and a good middle infielder for the bench who can HIT!

O.K. well it looks like this now the Inside ARAYD’S Head Blog for now.

Hello? Anyone there? Did I scare you off? Are you too busy picking your jaws off the floor because of my start Ethier bench Pierre post?

Anyone, have a comment on Kent’s comment about Vin that he “talks too much”. As you all know Vin has been pointing out what a difference hitting ahead of Manny has made for Jeff, while also pointing out that Jeff has been able to take advantage of the opportunity unlike Russel Martin. Jeff took exception and called Vin out. It’s absurd and classless. I didn’t notice anyone comment on it in the last couple threads. waddyathink?

Arayd glad to see you back. Your points are all well taken. And yes Slappy does have his plus points as a PH/PR and 4th outfielder.
I would have to disagree with one of your points from 11:24 though. I would rather see the D’s go after C.C. and Manny. I have a feeling Sheets will be like Jason Sh@dt. He is on the DL way to much to be reliable IMO.
Anyway good posts and you found a friend in AMY!! 🙂
Hey Amy good to see you back again. Missed ya.

I just did sl7180, I agree %100. Although I’m not too familiar w/ Lambo and Gallagher. I was familiar w/ Santana though. He was a monster for the 66’ers. I saw him in a game, you could “feel” it when he would hit. I wasn’t too disappointed though, Blake’s made an impact, and we needed that at 3B. Our offense was horrible w/ the way Dewitt was tanking and no option at SS. It’s hard to say if Santana will keep it up, he’s only A-Ball right now and we needed a 3B, I’d like the Dodger’s to consider signing Casey, but not if Joe continues to hit him 8th, I find that ludicrous.

arayd ~ I know what it feels like to think you are the only one posting. It has happened to me a couple of times too. Don’t worry, people show up right before and during game time. I’ve been reading what you’ve been saying and you have some interesting points of view — I’m very impressed that you have admitted that Andre should be the everyday player.

THX tru, it’s not hard to admit Ethier should be everyday, it’s plainly obvious and has been. I stood up for Pierre cause I think he is good and slamming him seemed unfair, but I understand everyone here just wants the best team on the field. We really need a consistent lineup, it actually creates chemistry, not to mention better defense.

sl7180, I checked out Gallagher and Lambo, I would hope they are not on the list given to the PODS for Maddux, nice numbers, good power from Lambo, it’ll be interesting to see who they get.

They changed my name too. martinloneykemp here. The name they gave me is not half-bad though — Loony for Loney.
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No need to worry about Kemp in the three whole, folks. Assuming that our front office and field management aren’t even dumber than I thought/dumber than the current duo, Kemp will be the Dodgers #3 hitter for many years.
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Actually, I should pull back on Colletti. He has redeemed himself with the Blake, Ramirez, and (depending on the prospects) Maddux trades, having only given up Andy LaRoche in terms of any short-term prospects.
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Torre, on the other hand, continues to wear a dunce cap. Although he has apparently figured out that Andre Ethier is better than Juan Pierre — something that 47 of 48 ITD posters knew BEFORE THE SEASON BEGAN (you could look it up right here on this blog) — he still occasionally plays Pierre over Ethier and still bats Mark Sweeney in critical situations.
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Also, JoJo’s brilliant move of playing musical chairs with the infield in a convoluted effort to keep Mr. James Loney out of the lineup because he had a bad average against a guy he’s only faced fifteen ABs in his career, resulted in three errors by guys playing out of position and a loss.
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Why Mark Sweeny is still anywhere near a major league roster is obviously a source of confusion and consternation here at ITD and among all thinking human beings. I honestly think that you could take the MVP of any under-30 hardball league in any city in America with a population over 50,000 (and plenty with smaller populations) and that guy would be better than Mark Sweeney.

lny4loney ~ Oh, my, the curse got you too! What the heck is going on here? Everyday someone is “altered”. If this continues, one of the regular posters will have to give us a list of past and present names.

mlk – they changed your name too? I liked martinloneykemp. I was wondering who you were the last time you came on. Anyhow, I like this name too, and at least you didn’t end up a number. I’m glad to see you around here again.
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Hey dodgerdad – I hope all is well with you too.

Why all the hatred for Jason Schmidt? The guy’s a stud. It’s not his fault he got hurt. He’s a class act and has always handed the Dodgers their collective a**es whenever he faced them. I remember two years ago Maddux outdueling him 1-0 late in the year. Hate Ned if you want, but Schmidt will help us before it’s all said and done…just maybe not this year.

If Dodgers re-sign Manny they MUST get a hitter behind him. Kent may be enjoying a renaissance hitting in front of him (is that blasphemy, Mr. Kent???) but Manny’s not getting many pitches lately. Gee, would you rather pitch to Manny or Loney???? If they do re-sign him, I’d like to see Garmpa Joe bat Manny three and Kemp four, providing they get a legit lead-off hitter, like a fully-healed Furcal…or is that an oxymoron?

kpookie, I disagree with your “must get a hitter behind Manny” statement. The Dodgers already have plenty of good hitters to go behind Manny. Not the least of which is the very good-hitting James Loney.
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In Boston, Mike Lowell http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lowelmi01.shtml was the guy who generally batted behind Manny. Manny did just fine. James Loney is at least as good a hitter as Mike Lowell.

kpookiemon/Kahli ~ I agree with you about batting Manny 3rd. Even this year, if Kemp and/or Andre get on, Manny would have the chance to bring them him in his first at bat. After Kent left the Giants, they moved Barry to third and they had to pitch to him the 1st and perhaps 2nd time through the lineup. Better chance of getting some early runs.

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